In the Cold Light of Day
by Hathor
Summary: Jack and Daniel try to come to terms with what happened the night before. Sequel to "In the Dark" *Warning: Contains Slash*


In the Cold Light of Day  
  
Author: Hathor  
Feedback: ladyraistlin@hotmail.com  
Pairing: Jack/Daniel  
Rating: R  
Status: Complete  
Category: Angst, First Time  
Warning:   
Spoilers:   
  
Date Uploaded: 2002-07-25 00:29:10  
Archive: Alpha Gate, Area52  
Special Notes: Sequel to "In the Dark"  
  
Disclaimer: Sadly these characters are not mine, they belong to TPTB.  
  
Author's Notes: Following a number of requests for a sequel to my response to FNF#4 "In the Dark", here it is. I have to confess that I was also curious as to what would happen. This is what I had lurking the dark recesses of my mind. Unbeta'd.   
  
Summary: Jack and Daniel try to come to terms with what happened the night before.   
  
  
  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~ In the Cold Light of Day ~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
  
  
  
The sunlight streaming in under the sand coloured drapes roused Jack back to unwelcome consciousness. Groaning softly as he awoke, he quickly became aware of the warmth of the body lying against his.  
  
Even before Jack opened his eyes or even before the memories of last night came flooding back, his senses identified the fact that it was Daniel curled up against him. He slowly opened his eyes, squinting at the sunlight, guessing it was at least o-nine hundred. The guestroom smelt cloying; sweat mixed with stale alcohol and due to his proximity, a sleeping Daniel.  
  
The memories of last night came back to him, troubling his thoughts. He sighed slightly, his breath puffing gently against Daniel's neck. He would love to stay here, suspending time if he could, as he tried to work out just what to make of the events of last night. As the liquor left his bloodstream he had assumed that discomfort, awkwardness and revulsion would flood in in its place. The first two were present but the last was conspicuous in its absence.  
  
Jack's eyes roamed the wall opposite. It was strange waking up in here and not across the hallway in his own room. It heightened the surreal quality of what had happened last night. With his arm draped over Daniel's hip, he could feel the hard planes of Daniel's back pressing through their clothes. Such steely strength, almost close to rivalling his own. It felt so different to waking up holding the soft curves of a woman, although it had been a long time since that had been a regular event in Jack's life.  
  
Daniel murmured softly in response to Jack's small movements, his hand tightening around Jack's lower arm as it lay across his waist. A wave of protectiveness flowed over the older man, humbling him that Daniel felt safe and secure enough to sleep in his arms. In the stillness of the morning, Jack had difficulty relating the slumbering Daniel to the sexual aggressive man he had seen the night before. Yet the memory of Daniel's predatory smile came to him unbidden, sending a flash of desire slamming through his body.  
  
Focusing on a small mole just behind Daniel's ear he had never noticed before, Jack suddenly found himself fighting the urge to move against the other man. Last night, under Daniel's physical insistence, a coiling desire had spread through his traitorous body. Somewhere a part of him wanted desperately to know if it would happen again in the cold light of day.  
  
Self-loathing filled Jack and his breath hissed out, his anger and confusion mounting. What the hell was wrong with him? Had seeing a darker side of Daniel last night brought his own deep-seated desires out to the fore? Desires that he never knew he had. Perhaps something only Daniel could arouse in him? Jack's mouth turned up in a mocking smile. So one taste and he was now addicted? He didn't want Daniel as a lover. How could he be? Daniel was his friend, someone he had to look out for, to care for.  
  
Taking a deep breath Jack tried to work out what Daniel had meant by his actions of last night. He fell into the mode of threat assessing, trying to remain objective, examining the facts. Daniel's track record showed that he tended to fall from one romantic encounter to another, with seemingly little control over events. Yet last night the control was evident, the slight bruising on Jack's wrist paid tribute to that fact. Last night, Daniel had made it very apparent what he had wanted. That Jack had, on some level, responded to the invasion, had felt the fire snaking through his veins as Daniel's tongue had duelled with his own, scared him. The fact that suddenly the way he looked as his best friend now included a sexual aspect was disturbing enough. Let alone the fact that somewhere deep down in his psyche, he wanted to know more about this forbidden, exotically foreign experience.  
  
Too many contradictions, too many thoughts and too much danger. Perhaps Daniel would not remember what had transpired and perhaps that would be best for them both.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Daniel awoke to a headache and a dry mouth, feeling like he was overheating. A heavy weight lay across his chest, trapping him. Squinting in confusion it took him a few moments to realise it was Jack's arm wrapped around him, Jack's body behind him, which certainly explained the overheating. That and the fact he was still fully clothed apart from his bare feet.  
  
"You're awake then?" came the soft gravelly morning voice behind him. Daniel felt the vibrations in Jack's chest as he spoke, half turning in Jack's arms, as he licked his lips to wet them to reply. The taste there made him stop for moment as the memories came back to him.  
  
Daniel's voice was rough with sleep, the desire to run and hide away almost unbearable. Yet he owed Jack more than that. "You're still here," he said. Amazement warred with something deeper in his tone. "I would have thought you would have left."  
  
"What? Fled into the night?" Jack's voice carried an edge.  
  
"No. Fled from me." Daniel rubbed a hand over his face as he eased himself onto his back, his spine protesting loudly at him for lying in the same position all night. "Do you want me to leave?" he asked quietly as he looked down. Jack's hand was splayed possessively over his stomach.  
  
There was silence for a moment and then Jack's voice rumbled soft in Daniel's ear. "You shouldn't have touched me like that." Hearing the words from last night coming back at him raised the hairs on the back of Daniel's neck. Jack saw the response and felt ashamed even as he delighted in it. "Why did you do it Daniel?"  
  
Daniel's breathing quickened as Jack's question hung in the air between them.  
  
"I don't know, Jack," he replied honestly, turning to face the wall again, hoping that Jack would let him gracefully off the hook. Daniel cursed himself in twelve different languages. He never should have given in to the temptation. He should never have revealed this last layer of his dysfunctional personality to Jack. Daniel knew that it was only their friendship that had Jack still lying next to him. It could be nothing else.  
  
The pressure from Jack's hand increased slightly as it began slowly slipping south. "You jump me, pin me to the bed and forcible kiss me, yet you don't know why?" Daniel knew what was happening, Jack was going to humiliate him. He realised that the other man needed to, he needed to reclaim whatever masculinity he thought Daniel had stolen from him last night. Jack's voice was scornfully hypnotic as he continued his whispered litany into Daniel's ear. "You moaned into my mouth, aggression oozing from ever bourbon laden pore but you tell me that you don't know why?" Jack's hand hovered, teasingly at the button on Daniel's jeans.  
  
Daniel lay there miserable, letting Jack exorcise the demons from the night before. He owed him that much. Suddenly he felt the click as Jack snapped open the top jean button. He caught the hand in a tight grip, not failing to notice the catch of breath in Jack's throat. That one sound changed everything. A ghost of a smile hovered on his lips.  
  
Slowly Daniel turned over, the action bringing him face to face with Jack. The atmosphere thickened between them. "You want to humiliate me Jack?" he asked softly. "Do you want to take back what I took from you last night?" Even now he could see the warring thoughts play across Jack's face. Fight or flight? Daniel lifted his head, so that his lips grazed the other man's cheek. He whispered into Jack's ear as understanding came to him, causing his heart rate to jump. "You've tasted forbidden fruit now Jack. Can you ever turn back?" His tongue darted out to taste Jack's tangy skin.  
  
Jack made no reply but suddenly moved, pouncing like a feral panther. His hands caught Daniel's shoulders and with a triumphant shout he rolled himself on top of the archaeologist. A knowing smile grew on Daniel's face as he looked up into the dark desire shining in Jack's eyes. Slowly he licked his lips as he felt Jack nudge his legs apart to settle in between them. Daniel's hand snaked up to pull the colonel's lips down towards his own. Before they touched, he spoke once more.  
  
"So tell me, Jack. Have you ever completely and utterly lost control?"  
  
The challenge in Daniel's question, the gentle mocking in his eyes inflamed Jack. Sparks flew down his nerves at the promise of what Daniel was offering to him. Finally surrendering to the inevitable, Jack lowered his head to taste Daniel's lips once more. A triumphant moan issued forth from the man beneath him as Jack's hips slammed down to meet Daniel's in action that said only one word.  
  
Mine.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
It would only be later, as Jack and Daniel lay together, sated from their lovemaking, sheltered in each other's embrace that the seed of doubt would take root and begin to grow. It would curl around their hearts even as they curled around each other.  
  
For in truth, tasting forbidden fruit always came with a price.  
  
  
~ The End ~ 


End file.
